Insurance companies should be forced to “show their sums” and reveal what calculations are behind any price increases imposed on their customers, the Green Party has said.
The party is calling for a new requirement that would make insurers display major factors used in calculating their quotations including any weightings that might be attached to the location of the customer, their claims history and the job they do,
Insurers should also be required to publish the “loss ratio” for each type of insurance package they offer, showing which ones incur the most claims.
It said such requirements – if introduced – would increase transparency and give consumers more information that would go some way towards offsetting concerns over price gouging, and help improve competition, reducing premiums for business and consumers alike.
The call was made as part of its submission to the next Action Plan for Insurance Reform.
The first plan focused on reducing legal costs and awards paid to injured parties and the Green Party wants the next reforms to radically boost transparency for consumers and would-be competitors.
“Ireland’s high insurance premiums are a rip off. They keep struggling businesses on the brink of bankruptcy and pile pressure on hard-pressed households,” Cllr Michael Pidgeon, the party’s finance spokesman, said.
“It’s time for the insurance companies to show us their sums and reveal how they have calculated such high premiums. This will give consumers and businesses more clarity on what is behind their quote, and might help shame insurers into price reductions.”
He said the party also had plans to increase competition in the market. “ An anonymous database of all insurance claims would give would-be competitors certainty, offering a chance to look under the hood of the Irish market. This would help increase competition and cut bills,” Mr Pidgeon said.
“The Government gave the insurance industry a lot of the reforms it wanted in the last action plan. Now it’s time to demand fairer prices and transparency.”
The Green Party submission also wants a requirement to report when customers are declined cover, to be included in the National Claims Information Database (NCID). and a new duty on insurers to ensure free access for people with disabilities to the most competitive insurance quotes, which may only be available otherwise on price comparison sites and not by phone.
